Gaming PC

[VR_Dev]

Edit: So I totally missed the sticky thread up top, whoops. Feel free to remove this

So I've been playing this game for just over a year, and it's the first and only PC game I've ever played. I've built some pretty cool stuff I think, both in game and mods, but I've done all this on my macbook pro, which causes the game to crash all the time, and awful video recording.

You an see some of my examples of my mechs at my rocket builder thread cb_co. I'd also like to start streaming my building.

Which leads me to my question. I know nothing about hardware, I'm pretty good at most software, but I don't know anything about graphics card or computer specs. Which is why I'd love some input from any of you guys.

I'm looking at this tower on craigslist for $175. You have to understand I'm a poor dude in my 20's, I really want a new pc, but I have a lot of living expenses. I'd like to try and talk this guy down to like $150 or so.

Here are the specs.

Heavy Duty full size tower with oversized power supply and great cooling

1 GB GDDR - ASUS AMD RADEON HD 6850 Graphics card PCIe-16

Intel Core Duo dual core CPU E6850 3.0 GHz

4 GB DDR2 memory, dual channel, can be upgraded up to 8 GB

200 GB SATA II hard disk

DVD Multi Recorder Optical Drive

Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbit/sec compatible)

2x DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI connections on graphics card (Picture shows different card)

Any thoughts?

And here's a long shot, but If anyone has an old pc sitting around they want to sell to a fellow Kerbal player hit me up. I live in Milwaukee, WI, so shipping might not be that big a deal.

I'd really appreciate any input you guys might have

Edited August 22, 2014 by clown_baby

[Javster]

How many PCI-E plugs does your PSU have? I REALLY messed up, mine only had 1, GPU needed 2. Had to use a molex->PCI-E adapter...

Oh, and what's with "shipping might not be such big a deal"?

Edited August 22, 2014 by Javster

[Red Iron Crown]

Dell's Precision line is their workstation class, they're much better built than their consumer stuff and have fewer gotchas like missing slots, poor cooling, or non-standard form factors. It looks like a decent machine for the cash, though you won't be able to run thousand part monsters or install a gazillion mods.

I'm not sure how well a dual core will perform when streaming or recording video. One core pegged by KSP and the other crunching the video might mean a less than ideal experience. Though a similarly priced quad core will likely have a slower clock speed so it's a trade off.

There's no shame in being a hardware bottom feeder, I use a similar vintage laptop for my main machine.

[Elthy]

Whats the hardware of your macbook? Maybe its better than this (realy, realy old) PC...

[Camacha]

To be honest, I would save up a little longer and buy something that will get you somewhere. This is not spectacular by a long shot now, and will be too expensive to upgrade later. You really do not need to spend the world to buy something useful to play a couple of games in a more than decent fashion.